


J O N E S

by LPM



Series: Mr. Sourwolf and Family [6]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Babies, Bottom Stiles Stilinski, Children, Dreams, Foreshadowing, Implied Mpreg, Intrigue, Long, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Mpreg, Mystery, Mystery Character(s), Nightmares, Omega Stiles Stilinski, Omega Verse, Original Character(s), Parents & Children, Plot, Plot Twist, Plotty, Pregnancy, Pregnant Stiles, Sexual Content, Slash, The Hale Family, Unplanned Pregnancy, Werewolf Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2013-04-24
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:11:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LPM/pseuds/LPM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Back from their trip to Japan, Stiles and Derek go to the Midsummer's Day party at the Hale House for a day of relaxation and socializing. But with inexplicable nightmares, relationship problems, and the reappearance of Stiles' dirtbag of an ex, who also happens to be Lorenzo's father, things get very complicated, very quickly. What does Adam Jones want after ten long years? What danger lurks near Stiles and his unborn children and will he and Derek be able to see it before its too late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	J O N E S

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I know I just updated but what the heck! I decided to go again and I really pushed it on this one. It's really long! That's because its crunch time major style over here so I won't be able to write anything for a while! Thanks to those of you who gave kudos/bookmarked/commented on the last chapter, it was real motivation! This one has a lot of stuff going on with a whole bunch of original characters, but I promise its all crazy relevant! Anyway, I really must be going. Hit me up on tumblr guys! I'm thelpm.tumblr.com 
> 
> The Hale Pack
> 
> Mother: Eileen Hale  
> Father: George Hale (deceased)  
> Kids in order of age:  
> Darien - 39  
> Laura (37) – Jeremy James (beta) = Austin (10), Stephen (8), Colton (7)  
> Derek (34) – Stiles (32) = Lorenzo (10)  
> Penny (33) – Samuel Cherry (beta) = Margot, Quinn, Jasper, Hyacinth (all 12)  
> Mitch & Caleb = 30

Silence ranges across the barren landscape like a prowling thing, preying on any and all sound that might be made. Parched, cracked earth stretches on for as far as the eye can see and twisted black trees spread claw-like branches to scrape against the flat brown sky. He looks around, takes in the bleak scenery with detached curiosity. This isn’t a familiar place.

 

Suddenly, the jarring opening riff of a full-blown wail rents the silence asunder, sending scraps of the previous stillness into oblivion. The cries echo oddly, loud and piteous, completely speaking of fear. He follows the noise, absentmindedly brushing aside stray branches that stand in his way.

 

The sound leads him to a clearing in the black forest, a single spot of living green sprouting impossibly from the dead earth. Lush grass grows in a perfect circle, bathed in rays of golden sunlight. In the center of the clearing lay three bassinets made of intricately twisting wooden vines that seem to sprout from the ground. The cries come from the bassinets.

 

_Children_

 

His heart swells. He knows who lay there, and for whom they cried; his children, healthy and demanding their father’s attention.

 

He steps forward, intent on the wailing infants, ready to soothe their fears, but a lone figure at the opposite edge of the clearing steps out at the same time, halting him in his tracks.

 

Something about this person is terrifyingly familiar, though he can’t make out anything of their features. Garbed entirely in black, their gender is unknown. On their face, they wear a white mask with pointed ears on top. The mask is animal, pointed snout, whiskers, and grinning mouth painted in bloody red. The eyes, where some of the wearer should have been visible, are black.

 

The figure walks on whisper-silent feet, advancing in a glide towards the bassinets where his children lay. He tries to call out, tell the terrible thing to stop, but he’s been robbed of his voice. He notices suddenly that the children are silent too. When he tries to move forward again, his feet won’t obey him, he’s well and truly trapped.

 

Panic engulfs him as the unknown, masked person walks closer. He can’t do anything but watch as the threat draws nearer to his babies. His heart beats too fast and everything is nightmarish but strangely, disconcertingly, familiar.

 

The figure is steps away from the bassinets and time slows down, he feels as if he’s watching something happen that has happened before; a single terrible moment repeating itself through time.

 

“….tiles….Stiles….STILES!!!”

All of a sudden he’s opening his eyes. He can feel his body, wriggle his fingers and toes, and sound has returned to the world.

 

“Derek?” he whispers, breathlessly.

 

A nightmare. It had been a nightmare.

 

But what did it mean?

 

* * *

 

The Midsummer’s Day party at Hale House is in full swing by the time Stiles and Derek arrive. The front yard is crawling with children dressed all in white and minded by stressed looking nannies or clumps of peevish looking older siblings. They walk into the house and straight through to the back, which is open to the grounds. Groups of immaculately dressed adults stand chatting, eating and drinking; smudges of white against the vibrant green lawn.

 

“Finally you get here!” Laura says cheerfully, hoisting Colton higher on her hip.

 

“Hello to you too!” Stiles replies, ruffling Colton’s hair and kissing Laura on the cheek.

 

“Daddy, can I go find Austin?” Lorenzo says in an almost-whine, already bored of standing around.

 

“Ok, go. But!” Stiles grabs his son’s shoulder, stopping him from bolting like he was clearly about to do “if you see Grams, make sure you say hello. Ok?”

 

He gives Lorenzo his strictest look and waits for the boy to agree before letting him go.

 

“I swear he grows every time I see him” Laura says wonderingly. Stiles feels what he knows must be a sickly-sweet smile on his face,

 

“yeah, he’s gonna be really tall one day.”

 

_Just like his dad_

 

The thought comes unbidden to his mind and catches Stiles off-guard. He hasn’t thought of his ex in so long that even that stray one is disconcerting.

 

Before he can go too deep in his memories, however, Mitch walks over with Anna on his arm.

 

“Stiles!” he exclaims, and swoops in for a bear hug.

 

All thoughts of Adam Jones fly from his mind and he laughs, hugging Mitch back.

 

“Hi!” he says, laughing at Mitch’s typically boisterous greeting. They break apart and Mitch goes to hug Derek, Stiles hugs Anna

 

“you look great!” he says. In a long maxi dress with one slit right up her thigh, the spotless white juxtaposed starkly with her dark skin, and the fabric caressing every supple curve of her body, Anna is a vision. She smiles at him,

 

“Thanks, so do you!” she says. Stiles smiles wryly, rubbing his hugely protruding stomach,

 

“I don’t know about all that” he says, “I don’t think pregnancy agrees with me.”

 

Derek snakes an arm around his waist and pulls him close, eyes dark and heated on his face,

 

“I think,” he says, “I disagree with that.”

 

Stiles shivers. Derek’s gaze is just as hungry as it had been that morning as they’d been getting ready for the party; when he’d run hot, eager hands all along the curve of Stiles’ distended belly, where their children grew. If there’s one thing Derek has been clear about, it’s that he is in no way disgusted by Stiles’ pregnant body.

 

“Okay you two, jeez!” Mitch says loudly, clapping Derek on the shoulder,

 

“it’s like you guys just got married all over again!” he moans. Once upon a time, Stiles would have blushed, but he’s used to this now and he only draws closer to Derek, placing one hand on his chest,

 

“so what if it is?” he teases. Mitch opens his mouth the retort but stops when he catches sight of Caleb, who has just walked in.

 

* * *

 

The air-conditioning in the car had given a valiant effort, blowing dusty gusts of cool air for thirty straight minutes before dying a wheezing breath. Even with all the windows open, he sweated endlessly. Nerves do that to him, and he is nothing if not nervous. His next move is crucial, its something he has to do for the sake of everything important to him.

 

He pulls into the gated community and the guard on duty leans out of the little security hut, giving his car the kind of look most people reserve for vermin.

 

“You lost pal?” the guard asks.

 

Ignoring the slight on him and his vehicle, he produces a spotless white card and hands it to the man,

 

“No,” he says, “but could you tell me which house belongs to the Hales?”

 

* * *

 

Stiles chews a thumbnail and eyes Mitch, who stands with his arms crossed, glowering across the room at Caleb. Derek stands with his hands on his hips, casting increasingly frustrated looks between the twins.

 

“You don’t know anything about him Caleb!” Mitch exclaims, “he could be a murderer or a gold-digger or a rapist!”

 

Stiles looks at Caleb, who scoffs but doesn’t reply.

 

“What’s this about?” Derek asks slowly, tone brooking no fooling around.

 

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Mitch says in mock-surprise, “why don’t you tell them hm Caleb? Why don’t you explain to them what stupid thing you’re doing now!?”

 

Caleb glares mutinously at Mitch but Derek’s low growl cows him into staring sullenly at the ground.

 

“Caleb!” Derek barks, and his brother jumps,

 

“Mitch is mad because I’ve decided to move in with my boyfriend!” Caleb blurts,

 

“but he needs to keep his nose out of it! I’m an adult!”

 

Derek looks back at Mitch for an explanation.

 

“You don’t even know this guy! Ask him how long they’ve been dating Derek!” Mitch snaps and Derek looks expectantly back at Caleb.

 

“Well?” Derek asks, clearly impatient,

 

“two months” Caleb admits on a sigh, “I’ve been seeing Anatoly for two months. But it feels like much longer!”

 

Derek pinches the bridge of his nose and Stiles thinks he’s about to give Caleb a lecture. Clearly, Caleb expects one too because he visibly steels himself; but then Derek sighs, all the tension leaving his body, and when he opens his eyes again they’re kind,

 

“Do you know what you’re doing Caleb?” Derek asks softly, looking into his brother’s eyes. Caleb, thrown by the unexpected turn of things, hesitates for a beat and then he nods,

 

“I’m not a kid Derek. Even if I don’t know, I can take care of myself.”

 

Derek nods, “fine then. Bring this guy to meet me at some point today,” he says sternly and then turns to Mitch “stop antagonizing Caleb. Nobody said anything when you started with Anna, leave him to make his own decisions.”

 

Mitch looks incredulous,

 

“even if they end up being terrible decisions? Even if this guy turns out to be an axe murderer!?” he exclaims, heatedly. Derek holds out his hand for Stiles, who takes it and stands.

 

“I’m sure it won’t be anything as farfetched as that” Stiles says kindly, placing a staying hand on Mitch’s tense shoulder,

 

“give him a chance.”

 

They turn and leave the room.

 

Mitch stares hard at Caleb who still looks defiant,

 

“just…” he says tightly “if he does anything…if anything happens to you…”

 

His tone is harsh but his eyes betray the fear he feels for his brother. From the second he had met Anatoly Valentin, he had felt something seriously off. Wolves learn to trust their instincts and his tell him clearly that there is something the other man is hiding that doesn’t bode well for anyone involved.

 

“He won’t do anything to me Mitchy” Caleb says softly and closes the space between them.

 

“I’ll be fine.”

 

Mitch hooks an arm around his twin’s neck and draws him in for a rough hug,

 

“yeah, he’d better hope that you are.” He says grimly.

 

* * *

 

The fridge has the only non-alcoholic beverages that aren’t laid out in the front for children and has been Stiles’ headquarters for most of the party. Being pregnant makes it difficult to stand around for too long under the hot sun, and he can’t drink most of the things the servers have circulating as its all pretty much alcohol. So he bases himself near the kitchen, where the drinks are plentiful and the temperature keeps him gloriously sweat-free.

 

The party is still going strong, even as the afternoon winds down. Eileen is in her element, flitting from group to group in her chic white wrap dress, she’s the perfect hostess. Penny, who is so much like her mother it’s uncanny, entertains the younger set of guests, laughing among her group of women as they all sit beneath the large white canopy that had been erected on the grounds. Laura stands next to Jeremy and a few other couples, deep in conversation about this or that thing. Derek has been overrun by a herd of kids, led of course by Lorenzo and Austin, and has been coerced into giving them all piggyback rides.

 

“Stiles?” a familiar voice says, and Stiles turns to see Darien, looking sheepish but handsome in his all-white outfit. Next to him is a woman Stiles has never seen, dressed in an old-fashioned white dress patterned in tiny blue flowers.

 

“Darien! Hi!” Stiles says, giving him a hug, “and, this is?”

 

Darien’s smile is large and genuine as he introduces her “this is Mila Sturgess” he says proudly, “my fiancé.”

 

Stiles smiles at Mila with renewed brightness. So this is the mystery woman, Darien’s first and only love.

 

Physically, Mila is an entirely unremarkable woman. She’s of an average height and average build, with brown-blonde hair done in a single braid down her back. Her clothes are outmoded but tidy and her face is devoid of anything but the most basic of makeup. Her eyes, direct and clear, are no-nonsense dark brown and lay under straight brown eyebrows. Stiles likes her immediately.

 

“Nice to finally meet you!” he says enthusiastically, “I’m Darien’s younger brother’s husband.”

 

Darien looks around,

 

“Is my mother inside?” he asks, and Stiles shakes his head, pointing to the lawn,

 

“no, last I saw her she was talking to some people outside.” He says. Darien smiles wistfully,

 

“some things,” he says “never change.”

Before they go outside, Mila rushes to the bathroom, struck by a sudden case of the nerves before finally meeting her mother-in-law to-be. Stiles waits with Darien, watching the party before them.

 

“Its been so long since I’ve been to one of these” Darien says, nostalgia filtering into his voice,

 

“when I was a kid I _hated_ them. Derek was always so good at being polite and sitting still…I always felt like I was suffocating.”

 

Stiles nods, it’s easy to imagine a stern-faced young Derek being paraded around by his mother, shaking hands with men more than twice his age and being pinched and smothered by the women.

 

“Do you still feel that way? Now?” he asks, and Darien breathes in deep, exhaling slowly.

 

“Now…now I just want to introduce my family to the woman who saved me from myself.” He says. Stiles looks at him, puzzled, and Darien shrugs,

 

“She makes me be brave…each and every day, she makes me be brave. If it weren’t for Mila, all those years ago, I’d have ended up still on the street, or dead. She’s the reason I got into college, she’s the reason I went to law school, she’s the reason I got a job on my own merit. She’s my life, my everything…I only wish I could have introduced her to my mother much sooner.” He says, and his expression is one Stiles has seen on himself, on Mitch, on Jeremy and Sam, one he likes to think Derek has on when he looks at him. It's the face of a man who’s so in love with another person that it’s like his entire world revolves around them.

 

“Well…its never too late to start. Everyone’s glad you’re back, even if it takes them a while t o show it.” Stiles says, and Darien smiles at him in gratitude.

 

They chat idly while they wait for Mila to settle her nerves, and Stiles finds that he likes Darien as much as he does the other Hales. When they’ve been waiting for half an hour, he offers to go and see if Mila is okay.

 

“I’m fine!” she says, when he asks her if everything is alright. She’s sequestered herself in the upstairs bathroom, away from the noise and hubbub of the party

 

“sometimes I just get a little….overwhelmed and, I mean…I’m going to meet my _mother-in-law_!” she says, sounding terrified. Stiles remembers the first time he met Eileen and understands the fear,

 

“I’m not going to say she’s not terrifying at first” he says, “but she’s really wonderful, she welcomed me and she didn’t even know me, I’m sure she’ll love you too.”

 

A pause, and then

 

“really? You’re sure?” Mila says in a tiny voice and Stiles nods even though she can’t see,

 

“positive. Darien loves you so visibly and deeply, there’s no way Eileen can hate the woman who brought that much love into her son’s life. You’ll be fine.”  He says. Mila sniffs wetly and blows her nose,

 

“Okay,” she says, “I’ll be out in a bit. I just need to…fix some things.”

 

Stiles leaves her to it, going back downstairs to Darien who looks nervous.

 

“She’ll be fine” he assures him “just a little bit of nerves. She’ll be down in a bit.”

 

Darien looks relieved and Stiles opens his mouth to steer the conversation away to a less…nerve-wracking subject, when he sets eyes on a ghost.

 

* * *

 

The Hale House is huge; the biggest in a neighborhood of truly big houses. It sits on expansive grounds and is teeming with people. When he pulls his car up, the valet barely disguises his look of disgust. He’d probably been driving around luxury cars all day and the beat up old thing that he’s just been handed the keys to, is an unwelcome surprise.

 

He doesn’t care.

 

He’s been on a mission all day and the crucial step is in progress. He moves through the house as if in a trance, eyes searching out the one face he’s sure he’ll know.

 

Crowds of well-dressed partygoers litter the inside of the house and his eyes flick from person to person until. There.

 

Stiles Stillinski…or rather, Hale, now.

 

10 years haven’t changed much about Stiles, at least his face. His hair is a little longer and he seems healthy, glowing even, as he smiles and chats with a tall, dark-haired man.

 

He walks swiftly towards him, stepping into the cavernous kitchen the moment Stiles’ eyes land directly on him and all color drains from his face.

 

He looks at him like he’s seeing a man who should be dead.

 

* * *

 

“Adam?”

 

So not a ghost, but someone he never thought he’d see again.

 

Adam Jones was never the most handsome man in the room. Even 12 years ago, when Stiles was a junior in university and they met at some party thrown by mutual friends, Adam wasn’t exactly the James Dean or Johnny Depp out of all the guys in the room. But he always had a certain magnetism to him, an irresistible attraction that made him popular with everyone. From the second Stiles clapped eyes on him, he was a goner. 2 months of late-night phone calls and lingering looks led to 2 years of passionate kisses and Adam fucking Stiles on every and any available surface. Things had been going well, or so Stiles thought, until one heated night under the full moon. They were both a little more than drunk and elated from a wild night out; Adam had kissed him wildly and Stiles responded to his touch as hungrily as a man starved.

 

He’d been reckless and lost his head in the feelings, never pausing to wonder why Adam slid inside him so easily that night. Never stopping Adam from entering him without a condom. They’d bucked together until they both reached completion, Adam spilling his seed deep inside Stiles. Then they’d gotten up and gone home to shower. Stiles didn’t think of it until weeks later, when he was sitting on the toilet holding a little white stick that told him his entire life was about to change.

 

“Stiles.” Adam says, and he sounds the same as he had all those years ago, when he’d said goodnight, all the while planning to run away.

 

“What…what are you…why are you here!?” Stiles feels fear rushing to replace the void that his moment of surprise had created. Showing up after 10 long years could mean nothing good. What if he wanted to take Lorenzo? What if he wanted to be a part of his son’s life? Lorenzo had only once asked about his father and Stiles had told him the truth, that his father didn’t want to be with them. He’d been upset for a long time, but then they’d moved to a new place and Stiles had met Derek, who became the father Lorenzo had never had.

 

“We need to talk…” Adam says nervously, eyes flicking to Darien who watches them from where he stands, “alone.”

 

Stiles stiffens and draws away, but his eyes are moving frantically, looking for any glimpse of Lorenzo. The last thing he wants is for this man, who had abandoned him and their unborn child, to get his hands on Lorenzo.

 

“I have nothing to say to you Adam” he hisses, “I want you to leave. Now!”

 

Adam flinches, but steps closer, forcing Stiles to step back. If he weren’t pregnant, he’d feel less vulnerable, less incapable of doing anything to protect himself and his and Derek’s son.

 

“I’m afraid I can’t leave without talking to you Stiles.” Adam says urgently, eyes darting around,

 

“What could you have to say to me!?” Stiles snaps, keeping his voice low so he doesn’t alarm the other guests.

 

“What could you say after _ten years_ of silence!? Are you going to explain why you left me without a word!? Why you stole all my savings and left me with _nothing_!? Why you never, not once, reached out to me to help with your son!?” he stops himself and takes a deep breath, “well he’s not your son, not anymore. You gave that up. He’s mine and Derek’s son, you can’t have him. I will never let you.”

 

Adam looks over Stiles’ shoulder, out the window at the lawn where a man he recognizes as Derek Hale is striding towards the house. He’s run out of time.

 

“I could apologize for a lifetime about what I did in the past and it still wouldn’t be enough” he says quickly and draws out his wallet, a pen, and a blank business card.

 

“I was a scumbag back then Stiles, I won’t deny it, but I’m not here to try and steal your kid. I’m here because you’re the only man on earth I can trust, and there’s someone’s life in danger. Someone important.”

 

He scribbles his phone number, a time and a place on the card and shoves it into Stiles’ hands, before stepping back.

 

“I can’t turn back time Stiles,” he says, looking nervously at the ever-nearing figure of Derek Hale, “if I could I’d do it differently. But there’s no use thinking that way. If there’s one thing I can promise you, it’s that I’m not here to ruin your life or try and take that kid from you and your husband. I know what I lost when I left you that night. But this is important, and you’re my very last resort. Please. I’m desperate.”

 

He turns and makes a hasty retreat.

 

Stiles stares after him until, minutes later, Derek walks in and slips an arm around his waist.

 

“What’re you doing hiding out inside all day?” he asks playfully, dropping a kiss on Stiles’ forehead before turning to Darien and shaking his hand.

 

“Brother.” He says formally.

 

Darien’s eyes are fixed on Stiles, looking worried, but he keeps quiet about what had just transpired. Stiles doesn’t bring it up, so he won’t either.

 

Just then, Mila walks back into the kitchen and stands next to Darien. From then the introductions begin and the group moves outside so she can finally meet Eileen and the rest of the Hale children.

 

When he gets a chance, Stiles excuses himself to the bathroom and stares down at the crumpled business card in his hand.

 

_Isla Nueva Café_

_Monday 3:30_

_xxx-xxxx_

He stares hard at the slanting letters, thinking back on the last conversation he thought he’d be having at a Midsummer’s Day party in his mother-in-law’s home.

 

The years had clearly changed Adam, and not in a kind way. Maybe it was because of their history, but all of his attraction was gone for Stiles, leaving behind a weary looking man, dressed in scruffy clothes and prematurely greying. Adam was always cunning, always fast-talking or pulling some con; but today he’d been devoid of that silver tongue. His words had been unvarnished and unedited, lines of truth from a man who clearly had a very important mission. Even amidst a crowd of strangers, and with Darien making an imposing figure behind Stiles, Adam had not backed down. In the years they had been together, Stiles had gotten to know Adam, and he only ever held on when something really big was at stake. It was why he’d left once Stiles told him he was pregnant. The Adam of 10 years ago didn’t see Stiles and their child as reason enough to put his life on hold, the stakes were too little to hold on, and so he’d let them go.

 

“I should just throw this out” he says to himself “forget about that asshole! He never did anything for me or for Lorenzo…”

 

And he crushes the business card in his hand, but then pauses right as he’s poised to throw it out.  

 

_“I was a scumbag back then Stiles, I won’t deny it, but I’m not here to try and steal your kid. I’m here because you’re the only man on earth I can trust, and there’s someone’s life in danger. Someone important.”_

 

Adam’s words come back to him and he sighs, uncrumpling the business card.

 

Why mention something life-threatening? Why trigger his instinct to help those in need? Even if that person ishis scumbag ex-boyfriend and absentee genetic father of his son, he can’t let it go.

 

He punches the number written on the card into his phone and waits. Adam picks up on the third ring.

 

“Stiles?” he says.

 

“I’ll give you half an hour Adam. And it had better be serious.” Stiles snaps and he hears Adam exhale in relief on the other line.

 

“It’s as serious as someone’s life Stiles. I wasn’t lying about that.” He says. Stiles sighs deeply,

 

“I’ll see you on Monday.” He says, and hangs up before Adam can reply.

 

Left to himself again, he stares up at the bathroom ceiling and groans,

 

“What am I doing!?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Did you meet him?”

 

“No, but I was near enough to sense it”

 

“Then what They said was true”

 

“I am afraid so”

 

“We must move quickly then, They won’t be happy if I fail again”

 

“I will advance to the next step”

 

“See that it is done well”

 

“ _Let it be done_ ”

 

“ _Let it be done_ ”

 

* * *

 

“Absolutely not!”

 

Derek’s voice is like a thunderclap, loud in their room, and Stiles has to shush him so he doesn’t wake Lorenzo who has passed out on their bed. Casting the sleeping boy a sheepish look, Derek lowers his voice to a vicious whisper, standing closer to be heard,

 

“there is _no universe_ that exists where you and that…that…scumbag, are meeting!”

 

Stiles huffs and walks into the bathroom, he might as well start getting ready for bed while they argue this.

 

He hadn’t wanted to tell Derek about Adam, knowing he’d be infuriated and worried, but he figured it’d be more worrying and more infuriating if he’d found out another way. So he calmly explained to Derek the situation, ending with his intention to meet with Adam the next day. Predictably, Derek is having none of it.

 

“He’s the kind of rat bastard who would leave his pregnant lover and never say a word for ten years, you don’t know what he wants or what he could do!” Derek continues,

 

“he already says he doesn’t want Lorenzo! What more could he get from me!? He has nothing to blackmail me with, and Adam may be a rat bastard but he’s not the type of man to attack a pregnant person!” Stiles counters. Derek grips his biceps and crowds him against a wall, looming over him

 

“you don’t know what kind of man he is anymore Stiles” he says fervently, “ten years changes people.”

 

Stiles struggles in Derek’s hold even though experience tells him its useless,

 

“I know him well enough at his heart to know two things. That he wouldn’t hurt me, physically, and that whatever it is he needs from me is for something big enough to risk running into you and getting the life beat out of him, just to ask me for it!”  he says, then fixes Derek with a pleading look,

 

“I’ve always trusted you and respected your decisions Derek, can’t you do the same for me?”

 

That makes Derek let him go, makes him look down and clench his fists as he struggles with himself.

 

“Its not _you_ I don’t trust Stiles” he finally says, looking torn, “its not _your_ decisions I can’t respect. It’s _his_. It’s him I don’t trust to do right by _you_ , its his decisions I don’t trust to keep you out of harm’s way. Even for a second.”

 

Stiles feels his heart flutter and thinks for a moment that its amazing that, after all this time, Derek can still make that happen. He puts his hands on either side of Derek’s face and draws him down for a kiss,

 

“Then trust me,” he says quietly, “trust that I know how to keep myself and our children safe.”

 

They look at each other for a few minutes before Derek’s shoulders slump and he straightens, drawing Stiles into a tight hug,

 

“Fine.” He says begrudgingly “but I’m sending you with guards. I know he wants to talk to you alone, but I won’t move on this Stiles.”

 

It's a measure Stiles had been sure Derek would resort to so he accepts it readily.

 

“Thank you” he says, and Derek breathes out an exasperated sigh,

 

“If I’d have known you would drive me this crazy…” he starts to say and Stiles interrupts him, smiling,

 

“You’d still have married me anyway.” He says.

 

Derek answers _that_ with a kiss.

 

* * *

 

Isla Nueva is one of those cramped little coffee shops favored by young hipsters. Stiles feels out of place among the quirkily dressed 20-somethings who occupy the tables, chattering about thrift shops and Coachella.

 

He spots Adam almost immediately, dressed in another shabby looking ensemble and nursing a steaming mug of coffee.

 

“Adam.” He says by way of greeting. Adam stands and moves as if to hug him but stops, swinging his arms awkwardly down to his sides.

 

“Glad you came” he says, glancing at the two silent men flanking Stiles. He raises his eyebrows but doesn’t comment.

 

 _Someone learned tact_ Stiles thinks.

 

“What did you want Adam?” Stiles asks, not in the mood to beat around the bush. Adam is silent for a moment, he sips his coffee and stares fixedly at a spot on the table. Then, just as Stiles gets impatient, he begins to talk,

 

“after I left you, I met a girl called Marnie” he says, “don’t get me wrong, I felt really shitty about what I did, about leaving you and stealing from you, but like I said, I was a real scumbag back then. Anyway, I met Marnie in Chicago and, I guess I was on some kind of streak or something, but I knocked her up too.”

 

Stiles stiffens and Adam does a self-depreciating sort of shrug,

 

“What can I say? I was just as stupid with her as I was with you. Anyway, Marnie’s old man was a small-time crook out there. Had me running minor jobs, had me learning the business. I was a dumb kid, I was saddled with a girl I didn't give a damn about anymore and a kid on the way, I couldn’t run like I did with you or her old man would have me killed.”

 

He sips his coffee and leans forward onto his elbows,

 

“So finally, Marnie gives birth, and it's a girl. We called her Grace after her ma. Grace Jones. And things were looking up for a while, until her pop’s business started going south. Some of the big guys didn’t like him sneaking around their turf, they put out a hit and it went wrong. They shot up the house while he was supposed to be home with Grace, but it was Marnie in the house instead. She died.”

 

Stiles stares, shocked, at his pained face; who could have known that _this_ was what he’d been up to all this time!? Adam continues his story,

 

“Marnie’s old man went ballistic, had all his boys looking around for the gang that got her. I wanted to impress him, get in good with him so I could rank up. I found the guy who’d done the hit and took him out. It was easy; guy was practically selling it to the papers that he’d been the one to take out Harry Fonteyn’s little girl. It was my first kill.”

 

Stiles’ blood had run cold as Adam spoke, as he watched him relive the nightmare of the last 10 years of his life.

 

“After I took him out, a war began between our group and the other ones. We had no chance to survive it. We were just some small fries and these were the big dogs. Old man Fonteyn got taken out on his way to the bank one day; that was when I knew it was over. I knew I had to get outta Chicago with Grace, she’d never have a chance there. I’m practically a dead man walking, they couldn’t have followed me here but they’ll catch up to me someday. I knew I had to find a place for my kid, and that’s why I’m here now Stiles. You’re the only person left, the only person I’d trust with my kid.”

 

Stiles sits, completely nonplussed, staring silently at Adam as he sits calmly sipping his coffee.

 

“What…what about adoption?” he forces out after some time and Adam shakes his head,

 

“I was in the system, don’t you remember?” he says sadly,

 

“I grew up a scumbag cuz I was raised by scumbags. I don’t want to put my daughter through that.”

 

Stiles nods. He does remember now.

 

“Don’t these people know about her? About Grace?” he asks. Again Adam shakes his head,

 

“The old man was big into the privacy of his family. None of them know my connection to him, none of them even know Marnie had a kid.”

 

Stiles sighs in frustration, wrapping his arms around himself.

 

“This is a lot to ask for Adam” he says shakily, “you’re asking me to become the parent for someone else’s child. The child that you stayed with when you wouldn’t stay with mine.”

 

Stiles isn’t proud of it, but the thought of that really stings, even after all this time. The fact that Adam had chosen to stay with Marnie and raise their daughter while Stiles was suffering, makes an ugly little part of him want to reject his request right then and there.

 

“I won’t lie Stiles, I was going to leave them too. But I told you, her old man had me by the balls, and I had to stay. Once I saw her little face though, she was what kept me there…” Adam says, “I know if I’d have stayed with you, if I hadn’t been such a cowardly, spineless, ass, I’d have loved our son too.”

 

Stiles nods and a great peace settles over him. He didn’t even know he was tense until all of his muscles relax.

 

“Fine. Where is she?” he asks.

 

“I pay a woman to watch her, they’re somewhere hidden.” Adam replies.

 

“I have to ask Derek. He’s going to be her father, you understand that right?” Stiles asks, taking out his phone,

 

“I know. He seems like a good guy…I know my Gracie’ll be in good hands.” Adam says.

 

Stiles dials Derek and waits, watching Adam from the corner of his eyes,

 

“what’s going to happen to you now?” he asks, almost against his better instincts,

 

Adam’s smile is grim.

 

“I’m gonna go far away, let em chase me for as long as I can run.”

 

He already looks as if he’s staring off into the distance.

 

“Stiles?” Derek’s voice says on the line, and Stiles turns away to explain the situation.

 

* * *

 

When the sun sets, a beat up old black car pulls up to the Hale House. In front of the house’s massive doors, Stiles waits with Derek, watching anxiously as the car makes its way up the drive.

 

Adam Jones gets out from the front of the car, greets his ex lover and that ex’s husband with a firm handshake for the latter and a thankful nod for the former. Then he opens the back seat of the car and coaxes out a sleepy 5-year-old girl. She’s got a head of dark curly hair and peers up at the two new strangers with solemn grey eyes.

 

“Grace” Adam says seriously, “this is your new father and papa”

 

Stiles, despite being very pregnant, hunkers down to the girl’s eye level and is shocked to see so much of his son Lorenzo in the little girl’s face.

 

“Hi Grace” he says softly, getting over his surprise. He holds out a hand to her and waits.

 

The little girl turns to her father, who nods encouragingly, and then slips her hand into Stiles’ own.

 

Adam crouches in front of his daughter,

 

“remember what I explained to you. I love you, I’ll always love you, but I have to go.” He says, and its only from their time together 10 years ago that Stiles can tell Adam is on the verge of tears. His voice otherwise betrays nothing.

 

“Why can’t I come too?” Grace asks in a voice rough with tears, obviously they’ve already had this discussion.

 

“You know you can’t Grace.” Adam says sorrowfully, and kisses her on the forehead.

 

“Be good for your new daddies. Grow up strong and beautiful.” He says, and turns to get in the car.

 

“Daddy?”

 

Everybody freezes as Lorenzo steps outside, surveying the scene.

 

Adam looks at his son, his heart in his throat, then he gets in his car and starts it up.

 

“No! Daddy!” Grace squeals, and Stiles tightens his hold on her just seconds before she tries to break free as Adam Jones pulls out of the driveway and disappears from sight.

 

“What’s going on? Who was that?” Lorenzo asks, badly confused. Grace has broken down into tears and is staring down the driveway where her father’s car disappeared.

 

“Renz…baby…” Stiles says, but he’s lost as to what to say.

 

It’s Derek who comes to the rescue.

 

“Lorenzo, you’re a big man now right?” he says, crouching down in front of his son. The boy puffs out his chest, nodding eagerly,

 

“Well that little girl over there is your half sister” Derek says seriously, “and she’s crying because she thinks she’s all alone. Do you think you can help her?”

 

Lorenzo looks at Grace, confused for a moment before…

 

“then that man was…” he begins, and Stiles looks at his son, nodding sadly.

 

“And he’s left Grace with us now too.” Derek adds.

 

Lorenzo is silent, staring hard at the spot where he’d seen his other father for the first and last time in his life. Then he straightens and marches over to where Stiles holds Grace.

 

“Hey, what’s your name?” he asks and Grace looks up at him with big watery eyes,

 

“G-Grace” she says.

 

“I’m Lorenzo, I’m your big brother from now on.” Lorenzo sticks his hand out, his tawny eyes on Grace’s grey ones,

 

“Don’t worry” he says “I’m here with you. You don’t have to cry anymore.”

 

And miraculously, the tears slow and stop. Grace slips her hand into Lorenzo’s, and he turns, leading her into the house,

 

“come on, I’ll introduce you to our cousins. There are lots. I’m sure everyone will like you. But watch out for Hyacinth, she can get sneaky…”

 

his voice trails off as they go inside and Stiles stares after them in wonderment.

 

“I hope we did the right thing Derek,” he says tiredly.

 

Derek pulls him close and steers him inside,

 

“let’s not worry for now” he soothes, closing the door behind them, “we have all the time in the world to worry. Let’s just savor this one moment of peace.”

 

And so they go and watch Lorenzo lead Grace around by the hand. Watch as she’s accepted into the fold just as quickly as Lorenzo had been when he first arrived. And for that one moment, everything is good.

 

* * *

 

“Is everything in place for the next step?”

 

“Everything is…prepared.”

 

“Are you wavering? Have you doubts?”

 

“No…I..”

 

“You haven’t let your…dalliances…interfere have you?”

 

“No! I…no…”

 

“Do not let your passions dictate your actions!”

 

“Mere passion could not sway me!”

 

“Then what!?”

 

“I _fed_ for god’s sake!”

 

“You lie!”

 

“I wish it were so”

 

“This is not good…They will not be pleased.”

 

“They cannot dictate the movement of my heart and soul.”

 

“Regardless, we continue as planned.”

 

“I never had any doubts we wouldn’t”

 

“Good… _Let it be done_ ”

 

“ _Let it be done_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this! I tried really hard! Any questions, comments, complaints, suggestions, etc. please please please leave them for me. I even enjoy a bit of crit! Don't forget to hit me up on tumblr! I'm thelpm.tumblr.com !!! I'm likely to take requests after this long exam period is over so drop me a message or four if you like! I might take time to respond, but I always will. As always, I love you all and I love to write so thanks for reading!


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